And before anyone b*tches about it, a link to the last panels at humnaesociety.org.

/not submitter, just an ol' Bloom County fan from way back
//well done, Mr. Breathed

I love it too, his site is farked.

Goodnight, Opus.

/Sniff

This is the third time Breathed has ended a comic strip with all the same characters, right?

/the minute his house needs new siding, guess who's coming back...

If you're gonna finish it, finish it, you douchebag.

This is getting to be about as sickening as the Who retiring every few years.

Liked the OLD Bloom County. His new stuff was not as good or edgy.

I was hoping for a Boy George joke, for old time's sake. A McNugget would have been good, too.

He'll be back.

In the Salon interview Breathed says he was afraid of making Opus too angry. WTF? This is the guy who himself brought up the cockroach yelling REAGAN SUCKS, who melted down the Bloom County nuclear power plant, and who ended BC by paving the entire county and evicting all the residents. That's the way you do it, and the reason Outland and Opus have kind of sucked is that he has obviously fallen too in love with his own characters. Waaaaay too in love.

Meh. The Ryan Adams of comics, always ripping off more talented artists and trying to pass it off as "homage".

Why do I get the feeling that he'll fall back on comics when his children's books don't work out as well as he'd like?

/Loved Bloom County, was indifferent to Outland and Opus

I will miss Aunt B and Deputy Fife most of all...

God I don't care. Used to.

Who cares. This guy is doodoo head.

I haven't been paying attention. Is this retirement three or four? He went Sunday-only after the first goodbye, right? Did he ever demand a larger share of the page, like Doonsbury?

I, for one, am going to miss Opus. Sad to see the little guy go, but a fantastic exit.

To all of you cynics: sometimes you should just enjoy things for what they are.

How can I miss you if you won't go away, douchebag?

TheSwissNavy: God I don't care. Used to.

I still have an echo of a care. Bloom County was great, Outland when it morphed back to be mostly Bloom County characters was decent, "Opus" was an abomination.

I am glad he didn't kill Opus. Maybe at some point he'll get his groove back and do something more like Bloom County.

Of course, I'm still waiting for Far Side and in some respects Calvin and Hobbes to make it back but I'm not holding my breath on any of them.

/don't read the paper comics much anymore

Loved Opus the character, but I agree the last two strips weren't the same. Need Milo, Portnoy, Hodge, etc dammit!

My fifteen year-old dog is named after Opus the penguin, so this is a little bittersweet for me :(

who?

I sense a trend:

"I loved Bloom County (when I was younger and more idealistic and impressionable), but I didn't care for Opus, etc. (after I grew up and became a functioning alcoholic with a lousy job and a mortgage payment)".

I think the Opus strip was very different from the original Bloom County, but still appealed to my inner sense of childlike whimsy which, I hope to Jeebus, never dies.

Damn, Opus is dead?

secularsage: Loved Bloom County, was indifferent to Outland and Opus

This, definitely.

/Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts!

mog, is Jusyt an 80s fad cOmic thaT outlived its usefu7nesz quit crying!111~~ OLOLOLLOLO~~~ NOW IF THEY GET RID OF ANDY CAPP, THERE WILL BE HELL T0 P4

WTF was that? So Opus skadoo'd into a book?

Cybernetic:

/Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts!

JUST COUGH UP SOME DOUGH MAC!

I don't get it. Can somebody fill me in up to this point in twenty words or less?

Why is Opus in an animal shelter?

Gunderson: mog, is Jusyt an 80s fad cOmic thaT outlived its usefu7nesz quit crying!111~~ OLOLOLLOLO~~~ NOW IF THEY GET RID OF ANDY CAPP, THERE WILL BE HELL T0 P4

OLOLOLLOL

jquinby: Damn, Opus is dead?

Yes, he passed in his sleep due to getting shiatfaced on mad-dog 20/20 earlier, then gorging down a huge burrito just before bed. Vomited in his sleep and choked to death on the regurgitas.

It's really complicated to draw all that, so BB figured people could work it out from the hints in that drawing (empty Mad Dog bottle; La Bamba tinfoil wrapper from the burrito as big as his head).

Awwwwwww. That was nice.

So what's left in the edgy department? Get Fuzzy, what else?

/I wish Garfield, B.C., Wizard of Id, or Beetle Bailey would retire once, even temporarily...

Not amused (and probably doesn't care.)

And this is a big deal because....?

Wait. Is Opus dead?!?

I never read Opus, but this brought a tear to my eye. Well done, Mr. Breathed.

Count me in the "used to love this" column.

Now when I run into it once or twice a year I think, "is this STILL being made, or is this just a reprint ala Peanuts?"

Sad to see you go? Again? I guess.

fish500: WTF was that? So Opus skadoo'd into a book?

Opus skadoo'd... we can, too.

Avast ye scurvy corporate dogs!.... Bank of America is about to go belly up!

Huh?

Epic Fail.

I think he wanted to support the Humane Society (pet shelters, etc) instead he's linked to the Humane Society of the US (HSUS) which is an animal rights organization that's as nuts as PETA.

Any chance someone got a copy and paste of Berkeleys message before his site crashed?

lemon-curry: Awwwwwww. That was nice.

So what's left in the edgy department? Get Fuzzy, what else?

/I wish Garfield, B.C., Wizard of Id, or Beetle Bailey would retire once, even temporarily...

Lio ftw. Very dark, but hilarious.

BigG: Of course, I'm still waiting for Far Side and in some respects Calvin and Hobbes to make it back but I'm not holding my breath on any of them.

That's why I bought the big box collections of both.
Can't really miss them when you have years worth of each sitting on the shelf at all times. By the time you get through it, it's time to start over.

Don't make me tell you again...about the skootching.

This makes Opus sad....

BigG: TheSwissNavy: God I don't care. Used to.

Of course, I'm still waiting for Far Side and in some respects Calvin and Hobbes to make it back but I'm not holding my breath on any of them.

/don't read the paper comics much anymore

Would love a Calvin and Hobbes comeback but it seems unlikely :(

Isn't this sorta like mourning the death of Jason from Friday the 13th?

jquinby: Damn, Opus is dead?

A guy from the Animal Shelter is throwing away his tie. I guess the inference is either he died or got put to sleep.